Hope

It only took a few minutes for Connor to catch up to me. He's incredibly fast for being so large and I am always impressed by his physicality. When he reaches me, he knocks me over gently and climbs over me, mouthing at my neck to display his dominance. I shove it in his mouth as a sign of submission and his wolf purrs low and seductively at the move. My wolf responds with her own purr making me laugh as Connor licks my cheek before climbing off of me, allowing me to run in a little circle as the rest of our group catches up to us. I'm sure if we were alone, our little game of chase would have had a much more pleasurable outcome.

Connor came up next to me and rubbed his body all along mine, making me heavy with his scent. Shortly after, Draven came up next to me and rubbed along my side, departing a little of his scent too, snickering in his wolfy way. Connor growls at him and pushes him away from me before rubbing that spot again and sniffing, before rubbing again. When he's convinced only his scent remains, we start walking along a stream.

'I'm too old for this shit.' My dad says after watching the whole exchange, making us all huff out wolfy laughter.

'Hope, try to use your powers while you're in wolf form.' Connor suggests but I huff at him.

'Just let me run for a few minutes, Connor. I need to let loose.' He whines a little at my annoyed tone, so I bump his forehead with mine before taking off through the forest.

I run through the stream first to dampen my scent in case any unfriendly wolves are around, then I bump Kade like I always do when I want to race. He snickers at me and barks three times. On the third bark we take off running, chasing each other and dodging trees in the woods. I trip him a little, making him distracted and he runs into a tree with his shoulder. I let out a joyful howl at my victory while Kade huffs.

'You always cheat.' He says.

'Funny how you say that every time I win.' I tease.

'Now will you try your powers, babe?' Connor implores. I roll my eyes making my dad snicker.

'If I had a dollar for every time she did that to me.' He quips and I huff at him.

I close my eyes and focus, letting my shield flow through me.

'Connor, try to claw Draven's face off.' He yips and prances over to his brother.

'With pleasure.' Draven looks at me with wide concerned eyes before backing away from Connor slightly. Connor catches him with his claws and swipes across his face. His head moves as if he were smacked, but Connor's claws glide right off of him.

'That's awesome!' Draven exclaims while bounding up and down in excitement.

'OK now hurt him for real so I can heal him.' I say.

'What?!' Draven yells and whines a little.

'Just a little.' I say and Draven huffs, but doesn't back away. Connor barely clips him on the shoulder, but Draven still roars out in pain.

'Dramatic much?' Dean teases.

I let my healing power flow, taking a few steps back to make it travel further than it has before. It reaches him and he heals in a few seconds.

'How does it feel?' Connor asks and I shrug.

'Easier than human form actually. I don't feel quite as drained.' I respond and he nods.

'Maybe your wolf is lending her your power.' He says.

A moment later I scent a deer and take off after it. Connor and I take it down easily, sharing the meat as the other boys find their own prey. Bellies full we run through the stream again to clean off the blood. I look down at myself in the water, amazed by the faint glow coming off my fur.

'It's amazing.' Connor says.

'Never seen anything like it.' My dad adds.

'I thought it might fade after a bit. But it looks the same.' I say and they all agree.

After tiring out my wolf, we run back to the house and get dressed. We walk into the heavenly aroma of Liz's famous porkchops.

"I could get used to this." I say hugging Liz affectionately.

"Yeah well don't. She's my mate." Draven says pulling her into his arms. As soon as he lets go, Connor hugs Liz and rubs against her.

"What the hell?!" Draven exclaims.

"How do you like it?" Connor asks with a clipped tone as Draven rubs more of his scent on Liz. She looks at me questioningly and I just shake my head.

"Trust me. It's stupid." I say and she nods in understanding.

I practice my shield while we're waiting for dinner, making people look around in confusion as the warm feeling encompasses them.

"That's Hope." Draven says.

"My shield." I tell them and Liz smacks Draven only a second after I pull the shield away.

"Ow, what the hell, Liz?" He exclaims making me laugh. She snickers a little and rubs where she just hit him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think you could feel it." I reach out to heal him, and it becomes easier every time I use it.

After a long day, my powers are spent and all I want is to eat and curl up in bed. I plop down on Connor's lap making him grunt at the impact, but he does nothing but wrap his arms around me and tuck my face into his neck. I breathe in deeply, allowing his scent to soothe me. I nearly fall asleep when Liz announces that dinner is done. We eat ravenously, even though we hunted in the woods and I'm quickly stuffed.

"Come on, stóirín. Let's get you to bed." Connor whispers to me as he lifts me in his arms.

"Sleep good, little one." My mom says just like when I was little and kisses my cheek as Connor carries me upstairs. I only bother to take off my clothes before flopping on the bed, still on top of the covers.

I hear Connor's low deep chuckle from behind me and a shot of wanting goes through me. The scent of my arousal quickly fills the air as I turn to look at him with a sly grin on my face. He shakes his head while smiling and climbs in next to me.

"I would rather you not fall asleep while I'm inside you, so let's wait." He says and I gasp in outrage.

"I would never do such a thing." He chuckles again, before putting one of his t shirts over my head and pulling me into his arms and wrapping the blankets around me tight.

I tuck in to his warm side and nuzzle my face against his bare chest. I'm pretty sure this is my favorite place in the world to be. He turns on the TV we barely use to a random station and begins running his hand up and down my back. The movement quickly lulls me to sleep.

Even though my belly is full, I'm warm and safe in my mate's arms, my sleep is still fretful. I have nightmares of men with black eyes and large canines pulling me from Connor, locking me in a cage and using me as a weapon. Tying a silver collar around my neck and leading me on a leash to exert my dominance over any one they deem a threat. I toss and turn, waking up sweaty and crying out throughout the night. Each time Connor is there to soothe me, to talk to me, to reassure me that he would never let those things happen. That he would kill anyone who even thought of taking me away from him. A few times I woke crying, tears pouring down my face as the council killed my friends and family. Breaking my spirit and stealing my will to live, to fight them. Those were the worst of all.

After an exhausting night, Connor went downstairs to bring me breakfast, saying I was going to try to sleep some more after I ate. I barely had an appetite, only taking a few bites. He practically begged me to eat more, but I only managed to shove a few more pieces of bacon in me. He gave up with a sorrowful sigh, knowing be couldn't actually be mad at me, but I still felt guilty for worrying him. After clearing the plates he came back to bed, holding me so tight against him I could barely breathe. It made me smile and he kissed every inch of my face because of it. I eventually fell back asleep. I'm not sure how long I was out, but a knock on the door stirred me. Connor answered it and ushered Dean inside.

"We had another call from the council." He says gravely. "They'll be here in three days."